“Captain America: Brave New World” kicks off 2025’s three Marvel Cinematic Universe films by re-engaging with the primary storyline after 2024 served up only the side trip “Deadpool & Wolverine.” For a re-engagement, the film from director/co-writer Julius Onah (“Cloverfield Paradox”) isn’t all that engaged, although it’s pretty watchable because it has a strong Harrison Ford performance and likeable returnee Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie). He was The Falcon and is now Captain America because Chris Evans’ Steve Rogers retired.
“Brave New World,” earning the title due to mutual irony with the Aldus Huxley novel and the fact that both feature pill-popping, loosely touches upon President Trump’s second term. It’s an impressively tight turnaround, but ultimately mealy mouthed in its explorations.
General Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross was played by William Hurt, most notably in “The Incredible Hulk” (2008), but Hurt died in 2022 so Ford, 82, takes over as Ross wins the presidency. Ross had been a combination of John Bolton (for his warmongering) and Anthony Fauci (for his scientific experimentation), but the Trump parallel most stands out in “Brave New World.” It likely would’ve played as a President Harris parallel as well.
“Captain America: Brave New World” (2025)
Director: Julius Onah
Writers: Rob Edwards, Malcolm Spellman, Dalan Musson (screenplay, story); Julius Onah, Peter Glanz (screenplay)
Stars: Anthony Mackie, Harrison Ford, Danny Ramirez
One of the personalized evils of Ross is that he had led the way in locking up Isaiah Bradley (Carl Lumbly), a black-ops supersoldier, for 30 years before freeing him. It’s unlikely, but perhaps this is a parallel to Ross Ulbricht, who Trump (to his credit) freed at the start of his second team after doing nothing in his first term. A second political prisoner, Sterns (Tim Blake Nelson), later plays a key role.
The idea of focusing on the villain is legitimately brave; this is a robust Ford performance, not merely a case of landing a star for more ticket sales. In the gag reel, Ford reiterates his position on sci-fi mumbo-jumbo that he famously said about George Lucas’ “Star Wars” script: “You can type this s*** but you can’t say it.” Here, he is perhaps referring to Ross’ speech about adamantium, the MCU’s step toward incorporating Wolverine and the X-Men.
Ross, redress for less (Spoilers)
(SPOILERS FOLLOW.)
Ford’s performance is professional, but Ross’ arc is ultimately goofy and weak. His Red Hulk transformation has no surprise factor because we were bombarded with it in the marketing (I don’t watch trailers, but simply from existing in the world, I couldn’t help but be aware of the Red Hulk factor).
Ross is brought back to humanity by realizing he’s running out of time to reconnect with his daughter, Betty (Liv Tyler, again from way back in “Incredible Hulk,” so long ago that she played across from Edward Norton rather than Mark Ruffalo, who himself has now stepped down as the Hulk).
In addition to being a thin character point that undercuts the moral reasons why he should do good, it’s presented lamely. The film lands Tyler, but does not use her in the pivotal moment; instead it is Captain America who reminds the Red Hulk that his love for his daughter should trump his power-mongering. Tyler then steps in for a coda that can’t have much emotion, since she previously played Betty across from Hurt, not Ford.
(END OF SPOILERS.)
A shred of decency
“Brave New World” moves at a deliberate pace, as a second-rate international intrigue thriller where its “mysteries” aren’t mysterious. Portions of the “X-Files” mythology arc come to mind, but without the foreboding mood. Still, the film gets by due to its character conundrums.
Though Ross is a bad guy, it’s compelling to think he might step aside for the good of the nation if he accepts that various manipulative forces have tied his hands and made him subject to undue influence (a situation some analysts believe might be happening in real life with the Epstein files). We’re in a bizarre time when a comic-book villain is tamer than the real-world counterpart, and therefore the villain’s shred of decency actually is the audience’s source of hope.
We’re required to overlook a bunch of things to make a real-world parallel, though. Ross, unlike Trump, doesn’t have his fingers in every pie; he’s only concerned with international relations, weapons and war build-up. Also, we don’t know who Ross’ vice president is, and we don’t know if the other two branches of the federal government are enablers or adversaries.
With great power comes careful tip-toeing
If Ross navigates politics with aims of greater power, the new Captain America navigates politics with the aim of achieving a greater good. His good friend Isaiah has been deeply wronged by Ross, but Sam can’t afford to tell Ross to stuff it; he needs to delicately remain an ally. The relationships among Sam, mentor Isaiah and mentee Joaquin (Danny Ramirez, taking over the Falcon mantle) are told in TV’s “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” (2021). The five (!) film writers do a nice job of making casual fans grasp these relationships.
In the margins, “BNW” keeps us engaged with interesting actors. Shira Haas strikes an unusual figure as Ruth Bat-Seraph, a high-ranking Ross operative who is a former Black Widow; the actress is unusually short for a commanding, authoritative role. This might be a case of film diversity being ahead of the real world, but it’s legitimized by Ruth’s fighting ability, and I can’t deny Haas’ unusual nature draws my eye in all her scenes.
Xosha Roquemore, so good with light comedy on “The Mindy Project,” adds spice to an expositional role as Ross’ personal secretary. And Nelson, although he had more to do on “Watchmen,” turns a plot-driver villain into something substantial.
“BNW” doesn’t live up to its name except in an ironic sense, but it’s the definition of “fine.” It touches on current events in a not-entirely-dumb way while still being a live-action comic book. As the 35th MCU entry, it establishes the new world stage and gets fans rolling toward a fresh Avengers-esque team (“Thunderbolts”) and the entry of the characters Disney acquired from Fox (“The Fantastic Four: First Steps” and eventually the X-Men).
“Captain America: Brave New World” won’t have much impact on whether you care about those things, one way or another. It’s fine.